Hospital run by medical charity MSF attacked in a remote part of South Sudan. There are casualties

JUBA South Sudan AP The curative charity Doctors without Borders declared Saturday that its facility in a remote part of South Sudan was targeted in an aerial bombardment that resulted in a few casualties The hospital is located in a northern town known as Old Fangak Doctors without Borders known by its French initials MSF disclosed a message on X condemning the attack on its hospital which is noted to be the only source of diagnostic care for residents including multiple people displaced by flooding It called the attack a clear violation of international law It was not at once clear why the facility was targeted apparently by authorities troops A spokesman for South Sudan s military could not be reached for comment A spokesperson for MSF reported their hospital in Old Fangak was hit by airstrikes shortly after a m on Saturday morning They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press The attack caused substantial damage to the hospital s pharmacy destroying all diagnostic supplies There was no definitive word on casualties But Fangak County Commissioner Biel Butros Biel described the AP that at least four people were killed in the aerial attack including a -month-old child He added that at least people were wounded though an assessment of the damage was ongoing Additional strikes occurred hours later near the Old Fangak territory causing widespread panic and displacement of civilians according to several eyewitnesses Old Fangak is one several major towns in Fangak county an ethnically Nuer part of the country that has been historically associated with the opposition party loyal to Riek Machar South Sudan s first vice president who is now under house arrest for alleged subversion The attack on the hospital is the latest escalation in a government-led assault on opposition groups across the country Since March regime troops backed by soldiers from Uganda have conducted dozens of airstrikes targeting areas in neighboring Upper Nile State Source